WARTH, AUSTRIA Claiming to be the snowiest resort in the Alps, this collection of pitch-roofed chalets attracts a growing insider crowd of snowboarders and skiers. PHOTOGRAPH BY TONI ANZENBERGER, ANZENBERGER/REDUX

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TELC, CZECH REPUBLIC A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1992, bucolic Telc, in South Moravia, is an artwork all its own. An architectural primer of gabled, candy-colored baroque and Renaissance houses frames its sprawling, cobbled central square. The town

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SOVANA, ITALY A one-street southern Tuscan village, Sovana reads like a leap through art history. The central Piazza del Pretorio is lined with medieval houses. The Church of Santa Maria features an elaborate eighth-century stone canopy and a 15th-century

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ERICE, ITALY It’s easiest to take a cable car to get to this dreamlike mountaintop clutch of medieval landmarks often lost in the bank of clouds known locally as the kiss of Venus. Originating as a pagan place of worship, the village stays true to its Sic

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MOUSTIERS-SAINTE-MARIE, FRANCE Revered for its production of faience, a tin-glazed earthenware that once decorated the royal tables of Versailles, this photogenic hamlet hangs off a limestone cliff in eastern Provence. Faience workshops produce plates, tu

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MONSARAZ, PORTUGAL The walled, white-washed Portuguese village of Monsaraz overlooks the Alentejo plains and is home to the Alentejana Mizette Factory, an artisanal workshop that has helped revive the regional craft of hand-loomed, brightly striped blanke

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MONEMVASIA, GREECE This walled village sits on its own rocky spur, just barely connected to the southern tip of the Peloponnese Peninsula by a narrow causeway. A jumble of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Venetian architecture, the hamlet is fringed by rocky Medit

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MILTENBERG, GERMANY This riverside Franconian settlement is known for its snaking main street framed by half-timbered houses, as well as its brewpubs. The family-owned Faust brewery can help arrange a tour of local breweries. PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORG KNOLL, L

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MARIEFRED, SWEDEN All sherbet-colored cottages, this lakeside hamlet could pass for Pippi Longstocking’s hometown and offers the bonus of the Renaissance Gripsholm Castle, which houses the Swedish national portrait collection. PHOTOGRAPH BY GERALD HAENEL

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KERTEMINDE, DENMARK This harborside town on the island of Funen was home to a thriving artist colony in the early 20th century, and the Funen Painters’ Nordic impressionistic canvases brighten the local Johannes Larsen Museum. PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANK TOPHOVE

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GUARDA, SWITZERLAND Flush with chalets, the showpiece Alpine village of Guarda features 16 clearly marked hiking paths through the surrounding Engadine Valley, for everyone from beginners to serious trekkers. Hikers can also arrange tours with the local t

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FORNALUTX, SPAIN Perfumed by lemon and orange groves, the stony village of Fornalutx, on the Balearic island of Mallorca, is a surprisingly sporty hub. A long rocky beach lies nearby, and the village is within easy striking distance of the island’s renown

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FIRLE, UNITED KINGDOM This old farming community in East Sussex became the unlikely epicenter of the Bloomsbury Group, which included novelist Virginia Woolf. Visitors can still explore Charleston, the group's country house, overflowing with exuberant mur

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EGUISHEIM, FRANCE Considered the birthplace of wine growing in Alsace, Eguisheim is an essential stop on the region’s wine route. Among the 30-odd local producers is the Domaine Emile Beyer, in business since the 16th century, which hosts wine tastings in

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DOZZA, ITALY A medieval hilltop photo-op in the Emilia-Romagna region, Dozza devised a savvy way to draw visitors in the 1960s. Its Biennial of the Painted Wall, held every two years in September, presents world-class artists who splash the village with f

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BLOKZIJL, NETHERLANDS Built around a horseshoe harbor, this largely 17th-century gem in the eastern province of Overijssel comes surrounded by lakes, ponds, and canals, and is fittingly known for its water sports. The local punter boats can be rented if y

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BALLYCOTTON, IRELAND This fishing village in East Cork lures sea lovers with its lighthouse and cliffside whale-watching. But it also tempts hungry diners, since Ballymaloe House, considered one of the pioneering meccas of updated Irish cuisine (think pan

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AUPS, FRANCE In the foothills of the Alps, Aups is known as one of Provence’s truffle capitals. Every Thursday, from the end of November through February, the town hosts a black truffle market, which stocks everything from the “black diamond” itself to tr

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APEIRANTHOS, GREECE This mountainside community on the Cycladic island of Naxos, settled partially by Cretans and paved in marble, is still home to a group of women producing traditional textiles on handlooms. Their vividly striped tablecloths, rugs, and